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It would be wrong if I start discussing the well known tips on “how to start a business” so without wasting our time we should just take a note of the 5 most Important things which should be taken in care whilst doing business.

1. Get A Legitimate Business Structure: If you are delivering services on your own name , its not business its self- employment or practice because every business got an organization name, a team, a workplace & address. In the last post I mentioned few of the questions related to business getting started on zero investment. Now its little clear that if we are doing business, it may never be without investment. So your first step should be registering your business under your local laws. A registered business always gets trust of customers & make them comfortable in doing business with you.

After registration try to get trademark registered so that no one can use your company name or logos for commercial interest without your permission. Its always recommended to hire your business consultant to take care of annual accounts, taxation & company law related issues, this will help you to stay focused on your business rather than thinking & calculating your tax payable amount.

2.Team : “If you can get things done for free its amazing & if you can get your work done on cheapest rate you are really good”– I heard this from one of the Angel Investors, while pitching my Business plan & Investment Deck for “Marammat Wala“. After business Incorporation the next step is recruitment. So are you going to hire an HR professional first to hire employees on your behalf or you will do it own your own. Hiring is the most important task in a business which should be taken care very cautiously. After all we are going to invest our time (training) & money (salary) on our recruited staffs.

Never Be Confident that you will train your staff even they are not fitted to your job. (Absolutely to save little money to hire experienced executives.) You will end with nothing except spoon feeding.

Try to negotiate on compensation. Offer them some incentives based on slabs apart from basic salary.

Always hire those candidates who can play different roles- tele-marketer, field executive etc.

3.Finance: I always heard people saying”Why to worry for finance, we will earn it from our business & will use it on the business.” Do you think its really going to happen. May be! But a business needs some time to get established & recurring income. The first month of business goes into registration processes, hiring & training. The next month is all set for trail because its not necessary that our executives who got trained recently will bring instant Business.

So how we are going to manage office rent, salary, electricity bills, telephone bills, conveyance & other miscellaneous expenses. Kindly make sure that you are well funded to spend almost 4-6 months without any profit expectations, ironically sometimes you will have to pay for mistakes. If you are not financially sound try to take help of your friends & family. Else other finance options are:

Banks & Financial Institutions

Individuals in business partnership

Private Financiers

Angel Investors & Venture Capitalists

Its always recommended to go for Angels if you don’t see favorable options from Banks & Individuals. Seeking a private financiers is really going to cost you much more as they may ask for higher interest rates & some sort of collateral.

4.Quality & Customer Satisfaction: We are well informed about the 4 P’s (Product, Price, Place & Promotion) of Marketing Mix. These all are pre-sales tasks, but what after sales made. Are we delivering the same quality of products & services, what customers are looking for? I know this is argumentative, as few of us will say quality needs maximization in over all cost. But what will you say about Apple’s statement” We sell our products on more than 50% margin & people love to buy it.”

Yes Apple Inc is having a great market share in smartphones. But here we are not in the same state, still we can make a try to offer quality work in affordable pricing. Try to make regular contacts with your customers to know their feedback, complaints & suggestions, as these will create a positive sign into their minds- You care for them. If you really pay attention somehow you are going to be benefited – Referral Sales.

5. Never Under-Estimate your Business But Expenses: Its common that we always over-estimate our profits ignoring our expenses. Try to think about the worst state of your business- Are you still able to move forward? If we under-estimate our profits, it means we are prepared for unseen, unexpected occurrences in business environment. This will help us to stay longer in the market else expectation of huge profits & mismatch in consequences may sometimes loose our enthusiasm & willingness to do business.

Whenever I remember my past two years it really makes me so depressed, helpless & disappointed. Yes! if you think that every thing you noted down on paper as your “Business Plan” is positively going to happen – You are really making a mistake. If it would be some kind of machinery, equipment or tool with well known pros & cons, we may definitely assume or predict any occurrences & be prepared for the same to cope up with.

But here we are dealing with unexpected & unseen circumstances in Business. I also had a great plan & a positive approach, but where I made mistake that led me to a huge loss & debts too. It’s hard for us to find out our mistakes being in a decision making position. We always think that whatever decision we have made are apt, suitable, economical & profitable for the organization (Mostly in case of Small Business).

That’s the reason it has been asked “So do you think you can do business?” Because after being failed for my last 4 year attempts in establishing a profitable business ( invested 4 years in two different business sectors), I thought it would be great if I could share my failure cause to ascertain your business success.

Business Idea: The first thing which really turns your evaluation to your business project is your “Idea“. Business ideas are the building blocks of a profitable & scalable business structure.

Is your Business Idea Really Going to Make A Difference? – Never be the judge & try to fool yourself saying”Yes it is”. I know still there are number of people out there think the same based on their projected revenue, projected expenses & Net Profit generated. But let me tell you “Why we are bestowed with mind, ears & eyes” – to think, listen & to watch. So if we can think something why can’t we share with someone whom we trust to know his/her opinion. It may be possible that still there are few areas left to be reworked. So its always recommended to discuss your ideas with your friends, kin & colleagues (different minds, different perceptions) to unfold missed facts that you wouldn’t have taken into consideration while preparing your business plan.

Before moving further kindly try to answer these following questions yourself?

What’s your Business is all about

Why do you think your Idea is new & “Different”?

What Kind of Problem You are trying to solve in your targeted market?

How better (financially too) you are compared to your existing competitors?

Is it a short-term idea or you want to stay longer? If longer-Are you prepared to face any sudden changes in technology you are using?

If you got all the answers favoring you, then great you are good to go. Now as we are enriched with a great business idea lets see how much empowered we are with financials. I know there are lots of people who think most of the businesses don’t require any investment. I must say its partially true in terms of a business dedicated in rendering services based on skills & brokerage. If still you think you may start with zero investment kindly try to find out

How you are going to sell your skills?- through advertising & promotions (money required).

How will you pay off your utility bills?- If you couldn’t sell your services for a month. Never ignore these small expenses as these are finally accumulated to a bigger load at the end of the month.

What if you need any outside paid assistance to complete an assigned task?